McBride was elevated to the Knicks starting lineup when OG Anunoby hurt his hamstring, but he played with the confidence and poise of a starter Sunday.
Dylan Harper, San Antonio Spurs
The shorthanded Spurs nearly pulled out a win thanks to their 20-year-old rookie guard. Dylan Harper put up 24 points and seven rebounds off the bench on just 11 shots, making his case for even more offensive responsibility in the postseason.
The Thunder lead the Los Angeles Lakers 3-0, winning by an average of 19.7 points per game. If they do pull off the sweep, their next opponent will be playing at least two more games before facing OKC in the Western Conference Finals. Not only are the Timberwolves and Spurs playing more games, but they’re beating up on each other while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is cruising along playing 32 minutes per game.
The Thunder would be title favorites anyway. The extra rest is just a cherry on top.
Losers
Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
Victor Wembanyama is often lauded for his intelligence and maturity. What he did by elbowing Naz Reid in the neck, drawing a flagrant-two foul and an ejection, showed he’s still prone to emotional outbursts like a normal 22-year-old.
Maybe Wemby was frustrated by the physical play of the Timberwolves or upset over a perceived lack of foul calls. But getting kicked out of Game 4 after playing only 12 minutes was a huge blow to his team.
We’ve singled out the poor performances of Paul “Playoff P” George before, but Game 4 was an especially bad effort. George, whose salary is $51.7M, scored a grand total of seven points as his team got swept. He had two assists, two turnovers and a single rebound, even though he’s 6-foot-10.
Worst of all, McBride’s red-hot streak in the first quarter came thanks to George, who failed to close out on McBride on three of those shots as the Sixers fell into a deep hole early and never recovered.
Julian Champagnie and De’Aaron Fox, San Antonio Spurs
Julian Champagnie picked a bad time to have his worst-shooting game of the playoffs. The Spurs’ three-and-D specialist was just D in Game 4, missing all five of his three-point attempts. De’Aaron Fox tied for the team lead with 24 points, but he took 23 shots to get there, and went 1-for-7 on three-pointers.
Even without Wembanyama on the floor, Game 4 was winnable for the Spurs — but not if their most important shooters couldn’t make shots. With Fox starting a max extension next season, he needs to show he can be the sidekick and scoring help the Spurs need alongside Wembanyama in big games.
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